


Trains

by abbeyjewel



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Cuddling, Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 08:24:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2574752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbeyjewel/pseuds/abbeyjewel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky and Steve watch old films on bad nights.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trains

It was one of those nights. The nights where neither of them could sleep. Steve was usually more successful, but nightmares still haunted him; Bucky falling, and the cold ice. Bucky always had less luck sleeping, not just due to the night terrors, but the fact that he hadn’t been in anything but chemical-induced sleep for almost 70 years. 

On these nights, they curled up on the couch together to watch movies. There were millions to choose from, because of course Stark had to have the world’s largest collection here in the tower. Some nights they would watch modern movies, and some nights, like tonight, they would go back and watch older movies, ones that were around even before them. 

Tonight was a mashup of silent films. They could be calming, and they forced you to pay attention in order to follow along. It also had the added effect of making them both feel a bit more at home. The movies were familiar and comforting, just what they needed for times like this. 

They were just finishing A Trip to the Moon, one of Bucky’s absolute favourites. The credits rolled and Bucky moved to stretch, yawn, and press closer to Steve, his head resting on Steve’s broad chest. All signs that Bucky was relaxing enough to sleep. Steve’s fingers found Bucky’s hair and ran through the long strands, urging him to relax more and give into sleep. 

The screen flashed and changed as JARVIS started the next film for them. The Great Train Robbery. They hardly noticed at first, Steve paying too much attention to Bucky, coaxing him to sleep, and Bucky very nearly falling into the first sleep he’d had in days. Bucky’s eyes had drifted shut for a few moments, only to blink open again. 

He focused on the screen blearily, to the two men fighting on a moving train. The conductor had found the robber, but the robber quickly overpowered him and then flung the beaten conductor off of the moving train. 

Bucky stiffened. The memory of the train and falling wasn’t a new one, but it came flooding back to him none the less. The wind rushing past, the loud screech of metal that couldn’t hold his weight, Steve’s terrified eyes and outstretched hand. It only took an instant, but it was enough. Bucky curled away from Steve and into himself, felt the world slipping away in a very different way than it had only moments ago. 

Steve noticed, and looked up at the screen just to see a slow moving, slightly swaying train. It’s all he needed to understand, after all, he’d been on that train too. “JARVIS, turn it off!” He called, keeping his voice soft and level, with just a hint of urgency. Almost instantly, the screen went dark. Steve wasn’t paying attention to that, though, and instead gently moved Bucky so he was better fitted in Steve’s arms. 

“Bucky, Buck.” He soothed softly, right next to Bucky’s ear. “It’s just a movie. You’re here.” His fingers were in Bucky’s hair again, one of the best ways to calm him down. His grip was tight on Bucky as well. He’d told Steve once that it was something about being held so tightly that made Bucky feel like he wasn’t oozing apart at the seams. 

“We are in New York, Stark Tower. It’s 2014, and you’re with me. Can you tell me where you are Bucky?” The therapists had told them both all about grounding techniques. Grounding touches, grounding phrases, just bring Bucky back to the present. 

Sometimes it took minutes, sometimes it took hours, but Bucky always managed to come back to him, and at that point, the were both entirely beyond sleep for the night. Steve just held Bucky still, reassured him with words and touches that nothing like that was going to happen again. It would take more than a train, HYDRA, the world, to take Bucky from him again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please comment <3


End file.
